I'm a Kaiser member and have to get CPAP supplies through a company called Apria. It has been the absolute most godawful experience I've ever had dealing with a company. Worst than a thousand Comcasts. I genuinely don't understand how you could be a CPAP patient with Kaiser without dealing with Apria?
My girlfriend had the same experience literally this week. The whole thing was Kafkaesque.
She got sent an at home sleep study kit. Set it up, did it. Waited, nothing. Had a run around between the sleep center and her physician. Eventually got a hold of someone. "Well, of course you don't have results, you need to send it back to us. And if you don't they'll charge you $1200 for it". "Uhh, the kit gave me a PIN and specifically said I could dispose of it afterwards" (she hadn't, yet, in case she needed to redo the test). "Oh, well, no-one told us that!" (How is this surprising to you?)
In any case, someone reviews her study, diagnoses her with sleep apnea, writes a script for a CPAP.
She surmises this, because she never spoke to anyone, or got any messages in her portal. She realizes when Apria calls her to verify and confirm details for the CPAP machine (I think she pays $170, then $19/month for 3 months to rent it while they establish compliance, and then if she is using it, Kaiser will pay for it).
She confirms everything and waits. And after a while, sees it's still in "label created" tracking status. Calls them. "Oh, we're waiting for this form from you", that until now she's never been told about. She gets it emailed to her, signs, scans, sends. Asks questions about mask options. "Your provider will discuss that with you."
Uhh, you're about to ship this now. She hasn't spoken to any provider, and the sleep center and the physician are debating over who should talk to her, I suppose?
So she looks over them with me. I'm not a doctor, though I'm a paramedic. I'm experienced with ventilators and occasionally giving acute patients CPAP treatments. So I can talk with just enough knowledge to be dangerous. So we pick out a mask, and finalize.
CPAP arrived on Friday. No-one's spoken to her about it, so she's like "I guess I just start wearing and using it". I had to adjust a few settings for her around pressure and ramp and EPR (expiratory pressure relief) to help someone new to therapy acclimate to how it works.
So, ironically, though not good by any definition, Apria ended up being the best part of the process.
My DME used to be Lincare was equally terrible. They were awful. They never had replacement consumables in stock, and I had to deal with months worth of delays to get things I needed. That’s why I went to CPAP.com (like OP) for a time. It was annoying having to coordinate with my insurance company to get reimbursements since they didn’t direct bill, but at least I would always have my equipment on time. (As a bonus, it was cheaper than Lincare to boot.)
I was supposed to go through Apria during the shortage a few years ago. They kept giving me longer estimates for when a machine would be available. After calling and waiting a few weeks I bought my own online and had it the next day. It was worth the out of pocket to get a cpap sooner as I was barely able to function at work due to sleep issues.
I refuse to do business with Apria. They’re the worst company I’ve ever dealt with.
I have Kaiser and when I need a new CPAP or supplies I just order from CPAPMan or whoever, and pay out of my HSA account. Not all plans allow HSAs though.
